(b. 1967, Queretaro, Mexico) Fabian Ugalde is a painter and visual artist who graduated from the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado “La Esmeralda”, Mexico City, Mexico in 1997. Shortly after, he started exhibiting in museums, cultural spaces and galleries both nationally and internationally. The artist uses his training in classical art and painting to recreate some of the most important images in the history of art, like Da Vinci’s “La Gioconda” and Jacques-Louis David portraits, among other great masters. Ugalde also draws from recognised contemporary artists like Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, to criticise their legitimisation of contemporary art. He then distorts these images through pixelations and blurring, between other techniques. His work has awarded him prizes in several competitions like first place at the X bienal de Pintura Rufino Tamayo (2000) and the 3er. Salón de Octubre, Gran Premio Omnilife (2001); as well as residencies and scholarships, like the Pollock-Kraser Foundation Scholarship, New York (2001).